Unity Day

Concept

Australians celebrating our history and culture is never better than when we are all united.

At our best we take to our waterways and parks in our millions to celebrate our country. We cheer on our sporting teams and welcome new arrivals. We recognise and reward those who have excelled in their lives - no matter what their roles, along with the many everyday heroes whose work so often goes unrewarded.

Most importantly though, we celebrate because we know we are lucky to live in such a wonderful country. We can, however, make it an even better country by being fully united.

Unfortunately, in recent times, we have seen a rise in division and conflict across the world which is now sadly being reflected in Australia.

Many people are currently divided over issues including; race, politics, religion, culture, sexuality, environment, the truth about our past or our vision for the future. If we Australians can put aside those differences for one day and focus on unity and harmony, it may help take a small step to easing tensions and divisions.

Unfortunately, Australia Day on the 26th January has become another source of division due to the fact that many see it as marking the British invasion of a country in the possession of First Nations Peoples and may identify it as “colvasion day”. However, it is not proposed to change the date of Australia Day but rather to simply add an additional day of celebration about being Australian - Unity Day on a date which would not cause such division.

Unity Day though will be about more than just reconciliation between First Nations Peoples and non Indigenous people. It will be about celebrating all nations and cultures, who have come here and have made, and continue to make an enormous contribution to the fabric of this country.

The concept of Unity Day is to have one day where all Australians put aside our differences and celebrate that which unites us rather than focus on that which divides us. Maybe we could even invite that neighbour, who has been difficult for so long, to come in for a cup of tea on Unity Day. 😊

The Date

The date which is proposed to celebrate Unity Day is the 9th June.

This date has been selected because it marks an event which demonstrates remarkable unity between Australia's First Nations People and non-Indigenous Australians.

On 9 th June 1803 British Naval Officer, Matthew Flinders (the person who gave Australia its name) completed the circumnavigation of Australia on HMS Investigator when he sailed into Sydney Harbour. He was accompanied and aided on this journey by First Nations man, Bungaree who acted in the crucial role of translator and liaison person with the various local groups they met on the voyage. It was an outstanding example of the British and local First Nations People working together in unity to achieve a remarkable goal.

Another benefit of the date is that we currently have a long weekend at that time to mark the King's birthday, for which celebrations are currently quite low key. As a sign of unity between monarchists and republicans the concept would be that both events could be celebrated side by side. The Unity Day celebrations would therefore be held on that public holiday. What could be more unifying than Republicans and Monarchists celebrating as one?

As Australians we can choose to either be an example for the world about living in peace and unity or we can choose to be like so many other countries where hatred and prejudice divide their populations. It is up to us.

Strategy

The idea is that this should be a grass roots movement, as opposed to something that comes from government. The word would be spread by word of mouth, email and social media, with people registering on this website as supporters of the concept.

Ultimately if there is a strong enough groundswell from ordinary Australians the various levels of government would be asked to officially mark the day.

Theme Song

Every good campaign needs a theme song and we hope you enjoy ours.

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come" — Victor Hugo